+ Click to Enlarge THE REAL THING: Zongshen's ZS125GY has a clutch and gearbox and is surprisingly roomy for a 125cc learner tool. Picture: DAVE ABRAHAMS

March 26, 2003
By Dave Abrahams

Zongshen's ZS125GY is a real motorcycle. It has a clutch and a five-speed gearbox, decent brakes and long-travel suspension, all at a modest price, even by scooter standards. It doesn't encourage high-speed travel, something that many a schoolboy's mother will applaud, but shows surprising off-road competence, especially on sand.

It's made by the Zongshen Motorcycle Science & Technology Group of Chonqing on mainland China, but is based on established technology - in this case Honda's immensely successful XL series of dual-purpose four-strokes, current throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The motor's ancestry is clearly visible in the SOHC design with its camshaft running directly in the head and the two neat little screw-in tappet adjuster caps, a Honda feature for many years, like the slight forward tilt of the barrel.

The squared off, angular outer cases, however, are right up to date, as is the electric start which the market seems to demand these days on even the most basic o two-wheelers.

True to its heritage, the little air-cooled single runs bore and stroke measurements of 56.5 x 49.5mm for a swept volume of 124.1cc (face it, Cyril, at the schoolboy level those decimals are important). A very neat little 20mm slide carb by HuaYang feeds a 9.2:1 compression ratio for a claimed power output of 8.6kW at 8000rpm.

This is difficult to quantify without a rev-counter, especially as the bike is very low-geared. Though punishing the clutch a little I was able to pull away - very slowly - in top gear.

First is really a mud plugger ratio; the ZS pulls away hard but runs out of revs at about 20km/h. From then on you go up the box in a hurry to stay ahead of the commuters in their Corollas; you're in top before you get to 60km/h.

Thereafter things get a little difficult. The Zongshen pulls sweetly up to 70km/h but above that vibrates enough to set your teeth on edge. Given a long straight, a heavy hand on the throttle and a certain lack of mechanical sympathy it'll rattle up to a genuine 94km/h (which is nine more than the factory claims for it) but you have to be a real Philistine to ride this willing little scrambler very far like that.

So I just relaxed and, for a week, went everywhere at 70-75km/h, telling myself not to mind when the GTi Joes cut in front of me as if to say "Whataya doin' on my road?"

It took me back three decades to the complaints of my schoolmates about their 50cc mopeds' lack of poke. I was lucky - I learned to ride at 15 on a twin-carb Honda CB175, a nifty little parallel twin capable of leaving for dead most sedans of its day.

The Zongshen's drive is taken to the road via an unremarkable wet clutch that can be made to judder a little if maltreated but doesn't suffer any lasting harm even on long, bumpy off-road sections, and through a notchy five-speed gearbox.

Upshifts on the test bike were positive if noisy (and improved during the period IOL had it) but it sometimes refused to shift while the bike was stationary – just like a classic Italian sports bike.

Neutral was also elusive; a few times I simply parked the bike in gear (thank goodness for the electric foot) and then pulled away again in whichever gear it was in when it stopped. Nevertheless it took me all over my favourite green-belt playground without complaint or any funny noises and with commendably little driveline lash, even at walking pace.

Chassis and suspension

The frame and suspension are from the same era as the drive train; a rectangular steel backbone with a single downtube and twin rear cradle holds the motor while a welded tubular sub-frame supports the seat and the substantial rear carrier.

The motor is protected by a 2mm-thick aluminium bash-plate while a pair of lay-down conventional rear shocks, adjustable only for preload, take care of the long, rectangular-section steel swing-arm.

The 31mm proprietary front suspension has full gaiters and a leading-axle layout for longer travel, offering smooth initial travel and the ability to soak up quite big bumps without bottoming. The downside of that, of course, is spectacular front-end dive under hard braking on tar – but that you can get used to and it helps the ZS to turn in hard when required by temporarily steepening the rake angle.

The 21" front wheel has a 265mm disc brake with a basic, single-piston calliper; it has enough power to push the front end on the dirt while offering reassuring initial bite on the street. The rear wheel has a 140mm single leading-shoe drum, rod-operated direct from the foot lever, of which I was little wary in the wet but which proved easily controllable on the rough.

I'm less scared of rear-wheel slide on a bike that weighs about the same as I do than on one of the fashionable litre-class "adventure tourers".

Chinese enduro styling

Superimposed on this solid 1970s chassis is the Chinese designers' interpretation of modern enduro styling; the ZS won't sell if it looks like a refugee from the flower-power era. The 6.5-litre tank is fashionably short, with the long banana-shaped seat extending to within 50mm of the filler cap so that you can slide your weight well forward on the berms – although I doubt the bike has enough power to warrant it.

The seat is narrow and hard, as befits the dirt-digger styling, but most Zongshens won't be ridden much further than to school and back so long-term comfort is of less concern than on longer-range missiles.

The plastic tank covers extend forward and down on either side of the cylinder head to form radiator shrouds, complete with mud-shields in front, but because the ZS motor is air-cooled there's nothing behind them. There's a huge enduro-style plastic front mudguard and a neat instrument cowl houses an odd, but attractive, tombstone-shaped polycarbonate headlight.

The cowl, tank and mudguard are painted a lustrous metallic blue with self-adhesive white graphics but the rest of the plastics are mostly self-coloured in white, which is cheaper to produce and virtually scratchproof. The handlebars are wide and braced and have a cute factory-fitted bash-pad.

The switchgear is straightforward Western-style stuff with the kill switch and starter button on the right and everything else on the left. It's noticeable that the bike is built to European rather than American standards in that it has a light switch (it's illegal in the US to sell a motorcycle with a headlight that can be switched off).

The instruments also follow basic enduro practice with just a speedometer and warning icons for neutral, high beam and indicators.

As an entry-level schoolboy bike with enduro styling, the Zongshen ZS126GY is uncomplicated and robustly built; its only concession to budget constraints is the poor finish on most of the nuts and bolts holding it together. There was some corrosion on the test unit before it was even fully run in but the important parts appear to be well made and finished.

Ridden within its comfort envelope, it’s a competent street bike and a surprisingly accomplished lightweight off-roader, its 820mm seat height unthreatening for beginners and the electric foot making up for its lack of outright torque.

It doesn't matter how many times you stall it – a quick push on the yellow button and you're away again.

And that's really what the ZS is all about; it's a forgiving learner tool without being boring.

Test bike from Owen Roberts Motorcycles in Claremont, Cape Town.

Price: R14 999.

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Specifications

Motor. Air-cooled four-stroke single.
Capacity. 124.1cc.
Bore x stroke. 56.5 x 49.5mm.
Valvegear. SOHC with two overhead valves per cylinder.
Compression ratio. 9.2:1.
Power. 8.6kW at 8500rpm.
Torque. 7.2Nm at 7000rpm.
Induction. 20mm HuaYang slide carburettor.
Ignition. CDI.
Starting. Electric and kick.
Clutch. Cable-operated, multiplate wet clutch.
Transmission. Five-speed constant-mesh gearbox with chain final drive.
Suspension. 31mm conventional cartridge forks at front, twin hydraulic shock absorbers adjustable for preload at rear.
Brakes. 265mm disc with single-piston floating calliper at front, 140mm single-leading shoe drum brake at rear.
Tyres. Front: 2.75-21 tube type. Rear: 4.10-18 tube type.
Wheelbase. 1375mm.
Seat height. 820mm.
Dry weight. 107kg.
Fuel capacity. 6.5 litres.
Price. R14 999.
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MADE TO PLAY IN THE MUD: The ZS125GY is more at home on the dirt than on freeways.